'I think we can now say that Rene is not going to sign with us. To be fair, when it came to the end of the season, he more or less made it clear that he wanted to move. We had to do the right thing in offering him a deal and the ball was then in Rene's court, but all the time I've been speaking to him, I've thought he wouldn't be coming back and that hasn't changed.'

Knill says that the club would welcome him back if he did change his mind but for now he's going to continue searching for a replacement.